Kronoja

A World On The Brink Of War

Overview

The World

Kronoja is a world in the grip of a technological revolution. The recent discovery of gunpowder has revolutionised warfare and industry, facilitating great advancements in technology on all fronts. Some nations have embraced this new technology more than others, but the frontrunners are now at each other's throats, with those on their peripheries forced to pick a side, or have one chosen for them.

The War

The nations of Kronoja are engaged in a Cold War, the first global conflict in its history. This three-way conflict has arisen due to ideological differences between Gillean, Seltan and Glaskan ideologies, and the strife caused by the collapse of old colonial institutions after the independence of the Tellian League and United Rausellian Front in a period of conflict known as The Colonial Autumn.

The spread of Gunpowder technology from the foundries of Pitros has also fanned the flames of this nascent conflict, with the neutral island nation sharing any military advancements it makes with all three major powers to ensure its sovereignty.

Up to this point, the war has remained cold, with trade wars, military buildup and technological advancement being the main avenues of conflict. Smaller nations have been dragged into the orbit of their larger neighbours, and the neutrality of Pitros has been probed by diplomats in the hope of swaying the island nation to their side.

The Weald

In a world increasingly reliant on technology, it is surprising to many that true power over nature comes not from steel and black powder, but from one's connection to places of natural power. This force, known as The Weald, can be wielded by those with a special bond to an element of the natural world who have undergone a transformation due to it. These users of strange magic are few and far between, and often stand out amongst a crowd due to their powers. A Weald proficient in hydromancy may have been drowned in a storm along the coast they sailed for their natural life, and bear the smooth, pale and salt-cracked skin of a corpse pulled from the sea, whereas a Weald gifted in the magic of forests may cultivate a small fruit tree growing from a wound in their shoulder.

A Weald is at their strongest in their element of nature, but can wield their powers anywhere it is present. A Weald linked to the sea would be at their weakest in a desert, but could still summon a fraction of their power from tears or sweat. Magics woven by a Weald are often subtle, accentuated by bodily movement and minor visual effects such as sparks, the glowing of eyes or swirling or unnatural winds.

The Coterie

The Coterie is a world-spanning anti-clockwise current that churns the oceans around the three continents, forcing long-distance trade to flow in one direction. Study of its strength has shown that the further from the outer shores of the region you get, the stronger the current is. This has resulted in a small number of mostly tragic attempts to reach its outer edge, with explorers plotting intricate slingshot courses to try and sail as far out as possible before the churning water sinks their vessel.

Recent advances in air-travel have revealed that The Coterie also affects the winds of the world, highlighted by the recent destruction of the Rausellian airship, Nighthawk, as it attempted to bypass the weather anomaly by flying at a higher than usual altitude.

Geography

Kronoja is formed of three major continents, and three smaller island groups.

The Northern and South-Western continents of Gillea and Minaeum are separated by the verdant but unstable Tellis Archipelago. Minaeum and the Western continent of Selt - once linked by a land bridge but now separated by the strategically vital Kysel Canal - flank the resource-rich Splinter Continent of Rausel.

At the heart of the temperate Central Sea lies the island nation of Pitros, whose position at the centre of intercontinental trade makes its good graces vital for any who wish to profit from the sheltered and predictable oceans near it. This position is further reinforced by The Coterie, which forces shipping into the Central Sea.

Gillea

Gillea is a rugged continent stretching across the northern edge of The Coterie. The Northern and Eastern edges of the region host a vast mountain range known as the Edgeward Peaks, while the interior regions are heavily forested, cut through with winding ancient rivers. The South-Western peninsula of Avillia juts towards Tellis, its Western edge a mess of swampland, and its Eastern one speckled with prosperous port towns.

Minaeum

Minaeum is split into three by deep crevasses. These regions, known collectively as The Shatter, are semi-regularly flooded by the ocean. This makes those few bridges that cross these areas vitally important to trade and cultural exchange, something which has fostered a deep unity between the three nations that make it their home.

Selt

Selt was once referred to as The Golden-Cored Land, a reference to its mineral-rich desert heartland. The majority of civilization is confined to the thin strip of green around the coasts, and a small string of oases that stretch North to South through the centre of the rolling dunes.

Tellis

Tellis is a volcanic archipelago of rich soils, scattered islands and strong naval traditions, arching between Gillea and Minaeum in the far west of Kronoja. The region is defined by its tectonic activity, suffering frequent tsunamis that have prompted those who inhabit it to live at higher altitudes, clinging to the sides of volcanic mountains.

Rausel

Rausel is a land of rolling hills, rich farmland and untamed wilderness. This perception once led to its colonisation by those of Minaeum and Selt, a co-operative venture that revealed its true nature; a land rich in resources and land, but also rich in monstrous creatures and wild, hermit Wealds.

Pitros

Pitros rises from the Central Sea like a monolith, an island nation built around a singular, central mountain, falling into the ocean in a mess of sea-stacks and wave-cut stone to the West.

The Central Sea

Subject only to the weakest of currents, The Central Sea is mostly calm, save for the occasional storm. It lies at the heart of Kronoja, sheltered from The Coterie by the large continents surrounding it.

The Coterie

The Coterie is a mysterious feature to the inhabitants of Kronoja. It extends around the entire world, a mixture of sea and storms whirling eternally around the continents. All attempts to chart it, or find an outer edge have failed miserably.

Major Locations

Vala-Kysel

Capital of Kysel National Union, split by the Kysel Canal

Vala-Kysel, also known as The Split City, is the capital of the Kysel National Union. The Kysel Canal moves through its centre, an artery of trade at the heart of the city’s industrial centre. The houses of the wealthy trade barons overlook this central region from hills on either side of the canal, and the Ksyel parliament building, known colloquially as The Nest, stands on an artificial island at the centre of the canal.

Ascalchion

Capital of Pitros. Wealthiest city in the world.

Ascalchion, The Tiered City, is the trade centre of Kronoja. It lies at the heart of all inter-continental trade that passes through The Central Sea, a beacon of gold and marble rising in front of the shattered mount Ascal, from which it takes its name.

The Pyre

Gillean Arcane Conclave. Spindle of black rock in the remote northern reaches.

Few who know of The Pyre are likely to speak about it. The spire of jet-black rock is riddled with tunnels and chambers where Wealds make their homes and hone their arcane arts. Aside from this purpose, rumours abound as to the true nature of the Gillean Arcane Conclave, the name given to the faction of Gillean government responsible for the regulation of Wealds.

Nations / Factions

Tellian League

Other Names:

• Tellis.

Government Type:

• Trade Block / Parliament.

Leader(s):

• Speaker Martin Tysorian.
• President Selena Rose.

Capital:

• Astok.

Tensions:

• Not all League Members are fully loyal to Gillea.
• Some League Members rely on The Glaskan Republic for trade.

Notable Cultural Features:

• Tellis has a custom of sealing trade deals with both parties drinking a shot of sea-water collected from the island of the other’s birth.

Pitros

Other Names:

• N/A.

Government Type:

• Constitutional Monarchy.

Leader(s):

• King Illion Lysander.
• Archon Tiberius Velch.

Capital:

• Ascalchion.

Tensions:

• The Cold War is heavily disrupting trade, leading to the first financial hardships in the nation in years.
• The Kysel Civil War is also disrupting trade to Rausel.
• Agents of all factions have infiltrated the capital and seek to sway the King or Arcohn to join their side.
• A rogue Weald is believed to have taken up residence in the city’s sewers, killing law-enforcement with puppeteered rats during the night.

Notable Cultural Features:

• Pitros is neutral in outside politics to a fault, and it is considered rude to discuss them unless it is absolutely necessary.

Kysel National Union

Other Names:

• Kysel.
• The KNU.
• The Union.

Government Type:

• Parliamentary Democracy.

Leader(s):

• Contested (due to civil war).

Capital:

• Vala-Kysel.

Tensions:

• All kinds of division caused by active civil war

Notable Cultural Features:

• Since the beginning of the civil war, code-phrases have been created to indicate allegiance, many reflexively ask strangers for these phrases, even if it is obvious that they are not from the region.

Kingdom of Gillea

Other Names:

• United Gillean Dynasty
• The Kog

Government Type:

• Monarchy

Leader(s):

• Queen Asmirah Silador

Capital:

• Talamin

Tensions:

• The Gillean public fear Wealds, and this fear has manifested in a radical subfaction of the orthodox Foundationalist religion, a group who venerate the Psychopomp figure of the orthodoxy, a demigod named Void, as the primary force of nature.
• Eastern Gillean nobles have split loyalties between their monarch and their trade partners in Selt.

Notable Cultural Features:

• Gilleans refer to Wealds exclusively as Witches or Weavers.

Seltan Republic

Other Names:

• Selt

Government Type:

• Magisterial Republic

Leader(s):

• High Magister Grayson Thrace

Capital:

• Orellium

Tensions:

• The Kysel Civil War threatens to spill across the border into Selt
• Droughts in the region have been worsening year on year during the dry season, and the water stocks of Interior settlements have almost been exhausted.

Notable Cultural Features:

• Seltans spit on their hands before shaking them as a sign of commitment; literally committing their water to the cause.

Castrallium

Other Names:

• The United States of Castrallium

Government Type:

• Oligarchic Democracy

Leader(s):

• Archduke Ferris De’Lasque

Capital:

• Varies: The capital moves to the State Capital of the state of the current Archduke. Currently, the capital is the city of Tripan, capital of the northern coastal state of Eldrise.

Tensions:

• Inter-state political unrest prompted by the civil war.
• A small group of states in the East see the coming war as a chance to secede.
• Many are still bitter about the loss of their Rausellian colonies after independence was declared.

Notable Cultural Features:

• N/A

Glaskan Congressional Republic

Other Names:

• Glask
• The GCR

Government Type:

• Congressional Republic

Leader(s):

• Prime Minister James Auburn

Capital:

• Eron

Tensions:

• Coterie-borne trade has been heavily disrupted by The Cold War.
• A major bridge across the Southern Crevasse recently collapsed, and rumours of terrorists causing it abound.

Notable Cultural Features:

• Glaskans are famously stoic, and subtle in their emotions, making them adept at reading the more freely expressed feelings of others.

United Rausellian Front

Other Names:

• The URF
• Many: The URF is composed of over 30 independent former colonies currently only united by a common defence pact.

Government Type:

• Military Alliance

Leader(s):

• Many

Capital:

• Under discussion

Tensions:

• Many tensions have been caused by the declaration of independence, as the nations now under the URF umbrella each have their own idea of how the new nation should form and be run.

Notable Cultural Features:

• Rausell is a meltingpot of cultures from across Kronoja, and has developed a language blending the homeland tongues of the original settlers with the common tongue and a language discovered on a standing stone near the first landing site.

History

The history of Kronoja is commonly split into three eras; the mythical Pre-Coterie Era (PCE), Pre-Founding Era (PFE) and Current Era (CE). This dating system is based on the works of Gillean historians, and the founding referred to in PFE is the founding of the first United Gillean Dynasty, marking the beginning of the Current Era.

The current year is 542 CE, and the earliest reliable historical records known stretch back to 1783 PFE. There is some debate amongst academics as to the reliability of the current dating system, as PCE dates are dated entirely separately from either of the subsequent eras, and events taking place during this period may not even have occurred, based as they are in Gillean cultural mythology.

A Selection Of Events From History:

1783 PFE - An unknown author pens “The Ocean Papers” - a semi-scientific treatise musing on the purpose and origins of The Coterie

1226 PFE - The Pyre appears in the Gillean wilderness

987 PFE - Pitros coalesces as a single nation, beginning millenia of domination of Central Sea trade

577 PFE - The first successful crossing of the central desert of Selt is achieved, paving the way for limited settlement of the continental interior

332 PFE - The worst Tsunami in known history hits Tellis, beginning an 80 year period of recovery

0 CE - Gillea is united under its first dynasty, The Maerinians.

398 CE - The Silador Dynasty takes the crown of Gillea from the previous ruling family after a bloody coup.

537 CE - The Colonies of Rausel declare independence from their mother nations simultaneously, and immediately enter into a military pact.

540 CE - The Kysel National Union descends into Civil War as each of its two major parties declare their allegiance to The Glaskans and Seltans respectively.

541 CE - The Wernam Bridge across The Souther Crevasse collapses, potentially at the hands of domestic terrorists seeking to prevent The Glaskan Republic from entering into a Hot War with other major powers.

Notable Characters

Speaker Martin Tysorian

Martin Tysorian is not a career politician, a rarity in his home nation. He was originally a book-seller, who initially ran for a local governmental seat. His popularity propelled him to greater and greater seats of governance, eventually carrying him to the role of Speaker of the Tellis parliament.

He is generally agreed to be affable and kind-hearted, but has proven himself capable of swift and harsh judgement upon those MPs who fail to live up to the standards of their positions. This has made him several powerful political opponents who have yet to be able to oust him in the court of public opinion, despite multiple attempts.

Queen Asmirah Silador

Asmirah Silador was raised from birth with the certainty that she would never be Queen. Her father declared her younger brother - Damian - his heir on his deathbed, and just as she resigned herself to a life of political marriage to some Eastern Baron, Damian was assassinated without an heir of his own.

Asmirah has since taken her role extremely seriously, ruling with a strength her dynasty had been viewed as lacking. But she walks a dangerously thin line, stoking the superstitions of her people to retain power without letting the religious fervour she has inspired overtake her. Her rule is now threatened by the preachers of the Void Foundationalist sect, and her use of Wealds in Gillean military matters has only heightened this division.

Archon Tiberius Velch

Tiberius is a Weald of The Sea, a powerful and rare form of arcana that granted him access to the Order of Archons who guide the rulers of Pitros. Despite appearing as a drowned man, with eternally wet hair, Tiberius is unusually animate, often counselling King Illion to solve his issues with grandeur and diplomatic splendour, rather than the not inconsiderable military at Pitros’ command.

While this has given the Archon a reputation for being a party animal, he is very detached from the celebrations he organises, using them to speak to the Arcane representatives of other nations, and forge backroom deals with those he refers to as “The vital little folk of power”; servants, bureaucrats and record-keepers, whom he is frequently able to sway to his side with a silver tongue.

And if all else fails, Tiberius is capable of causing any who stand against him to be swallowed by ocean storms, great creatures from the depths, or any other number of nautical hazards.

Inspiration

This setting is largely inspired by the Renaissance Fantasy, War and Folk Horror genres, taking particular inspiration from the works listed below:

Monstergarden (YouTube) - Monstergarden - YouTube

The Tethered Mage (Novel / Series) - Swords and Fire Series by Melissa Caruso

Call of Cthulhu (TTRPG) - Call of Cthulhu RPG

Bloodborne (Videogame) - Bloodborne - Wikipedia

The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn - The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn by Tyler Whitesides | Goodreads

Breach of Peace - Breach of Peace (Lawful Times, #1) by Daniel B. Greene | Goodreads

Other genres that might be interesting for storytelling within this setting include Heist, Crime Thriller, Political Intrigue, Survival / Exploration and Revenge.

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